The Bet
by lolzilean
Summary: Judy's slip up at work forces the two of them to watch a terrible documentary about work-place relationships. Which one will succumb to the depths of slumber first?


Light from the late-afternoon Sun struck against the floorboards in the unoccupied apartment, illuminating the floating particles of dust interspersed throughout the air. The dimly lit room was quiet and undisturbed, save for the occasional draft coming from the cheaply insulated walls. The sun beam inched across the room as the sun began to fall behind the Earth. While the sun was enjoying its last moments over the horizon, the room was suddenly filled with the sound of keys jostling at the lock, with muffled voices coming from the other side of the door. The pins within the lock clicked, allowing the door to swing open. The illumination of the sun fizzled out and bright, electronic light filled the room. Nick walked into the room and flicked the light switch. Judy emptied her pockets and threw her belongings on the kitchen table, along with a DVD titled _The Tainted Truth of Workplace Romances_.

Judy sighed and walked towards the center of the room. "I can't believe Cheif Bogo's making us watch this stupid video. I just wanted to relax tonight. You know, dinner, throw on a cheesy movie, and sleep. That's it." Judy hoisted herself onto the couch and slowly lowered herself onto her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms. "Doesn't he know that I've mem-"

" _Yes_ Carrots, he knows you've memorized the _entire_ manual. Cover to cover." Nick sat next to her on the couch, patting his paw against her head. "You've made it your life's mission to prove that fact to him. Trust me, he'll never forget."

Judy shifted her body towards Nick and rested her cheek on his leg. "Then why do I still have to watch it?" she whined.

Nick raised his eyebrows and smirked. Looking into her eyes, he said "You can't _really_ expect him to ignore your little comment before we started boxing, can you?"

Judy blushed, "I… wasn't thinking… I was in the moment and it-" she covered her eyes with her paws, and paused and took a deep breath. "You know I was never the best at trash talking."

"Fluff, I knew you were bad, but _wow_." He raised the pitch of his voice, imitating the non-threatening tone of Judy's attempted intimidation. " _When I'm done with you, your limbs will be tied in more knots than you had me in last night._ " Nick continued his sly grin, "Really? At work? Bogo's eyes were bulging out of his head so far I thought they were on vacation."

Judy lifted her head out of her arms and glared at Nick, who immediately felt tiny under her piercing glower. Judy shifted off of the couch in mock anger and walked towards the door to their apartment. She turned the handle, opening the door with an exaggerated slowness.

"Awww Judes you know I was just teasing, come back to you beautiful fox." Nick whined. He opened his arms, flashing her a smile and expected her to come back and leap into them.

He wasn't _quite_ that fortunate.

Judy turned around with a smile, closing the door as she walked back towards him. As she reached the foot of the couch, she looked up at him with a mischievous grin. Nick quickly realized the danger of having a vengeful bunny in his immediate proximity, but before he could react, she kicked him in the shin, strengthening her smile as a sharp yelp echoed throughout the room. Nick recoiled, bringing his knee up towards his chest, clutching his shin in his paws as if rubbing them would help alleviate the pain. While he fell onto his side, Judy, jumping back on the couch, leaned into his ears, and whispered, "You see, _this_ bunny doesn't rely on petty trash talk to take down her enemies." She ended her taunt with a convincing predatory growl.

Nick's eyes went wide, flinching as he slowly scrambled away from his fluffy attacker. Nick spoke quietly and unevenly, "Scary bunny."

"Weak fox."

Judy shifted over to Nick and stretched her arms around his torso, embracing his furry chest. Nick hesitated in returning the gesture.

"I don't know Carrots, last time you were this close to me a creepy, powerful bunny replaced Judy Hopps. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget being _viciously_ attacked by a savage ball of fluff."

Judy playfully growled again, "If you don't snuggle with me _right… now..._ then the savage 'ball of fluff' might start to make regular appearances."

"What, are you going to ' _tie me up in knots'_ like you so elegantly phrased it this afternoon?" Nick chuckled as he wrapped one arm around her lower back, petting her ears with his other hand. He felt the appendages grow warmer after he teased her for her slip up.

"Shut up..."

Nick hugged her tighter, bringing his tail up to rustle against her lower back. His warmth and the fluffy tail behind her made her sleepy, and it took all of her willpower to stay awake while being comfortably snuggled by her partner.

Judy yawned as she rubbed her face into his chest, "Can you set up the movie so we can get it over with?"

Opening his eyes, he teased "Sure, but I really expect you to learn something here, Hopps. This movie is meant to remedy your _unacceptable_ lack of professionalism, and it might even be able to help stop your occasional flares of violence."

Nick let go of his bunny and slid off of the couch, sauntering over to the table where Judy had thrown the DVD. Grabbing it, he turned back towards the TV, slipping the disc in the slot and starting the video. Within the time it took him to set up the DVD, Judy had flopped onto her side and shoved her face in between two of the cushions, her ears lazily lying alongside her head. Nick sat on the couch near her feet and began to lie down, slipping his upper body between the back of the couch and Judy's side. As she was pushed closer to the edge of the cushion, she propped herself on her side, and shuffled her back into his furry chest. He wrapped his arms around her body, petting her stomach while he brought his tail through Judy's legs, resting it against her chest. She wrapped both her arms around the fuzzy appendage, pressing it to her chest and nuzzling it with her cheek. Right when the movie started, she sighed contently as she was kept warm from all sides.

She closed her eyes and listened to the TV. She rustled Nick's tail against her face, focusing on how their breaths always seemed to fade together as they laid like this. As time went on, she listened less and less to the TV, currently featuring a doe describing the immorality of work relationships, and more to the sound of Nick's breath tickling her ears. She shifted a little, slumping more of her weight into Nick's stomach. She was so warm, felt so protected. The mindless drawl of the TV faded into nothingness as she slipped into a mindless state, on the precipice of sleep. She felt, but didn't acknowledge, the fox behind her shift slightly.

As he felt the bunny against his stomach grow more relaxed, the giddiness inside of him grew. He absentmindedly stroked Judy's stomach, thinking through his recently conceived, grand-master plan. Carefully executing the first part of his plan, he shifted his weight slightly, allowing him to reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. He felt her stir slightly when his tail accidentally brushed up against her nose. His eyes opened widely as her nose began to twitch. Nick knew something was wrong. The twitching of her nose sped up. His face expressed panic as her breath quickened. She took a deep breath, preparing for the sneeze that would surely pull her out of her respite. He braced himself for impact, eyes scrunched closed as he prepared for the inevitable.

"aaahhhHHH….. chu."

Judy let out a slow sigh, the twitches of her nose relaxing. She hugged Nick's tail closer.

' _Come on.'_ , he thought, 'E _ven sneezing she's cute as hell_. _That's just unfair. Save some for the rest of us!'_ he sighed _'Whatever. On to phase two!'_

Nick swiftly unlocked his phone, swiping towards his address book. He tapped on the ninth contact in his list - "Cheifers". Careful of the noise his paws made on the phone, he quietly typed out a message.

"Hey Horns – I caught one of your officers sleeping on the job. She should be watching the movie about how work-place relationships are ruining Zootopia. Mind giving me a hand waking her up? :)"

Nick grinned as he tapped the "Send" button. He decided to spend the few moments of down time stroking the tips of Judy's ears, awarded by her sighs in contentment.

Nick jerked a little when he felt the vibration of his phone. Glancing at the screen, confusion began to creep onto his face. Why had Bogo sent a voice message? He glanced at the audio file. ' _Two seconds? What could he say in two seconds?'_ He considered the mysterious file for a few moments and had a sudden surge of clarity. ' _Bogo, you magnificent bull.'_

Making sure the "Media" volume on his phone was turned up, Nick very, very carefully placed his phone on the couch near Judy's ears. He let go of Judy, using one arm to cover both of his ears. ' _Here we go.',_ thought, struggling to contain his laughter.

He tapped the play button.

"HOOOOPPPPPPPSSSSS!"

Judy's eyes jolted open, her panic causing her to push off of everything in her immediate vicinity. Including Nick. Judy launched herself off of the couch, falling a couple of feet and landing on her side.

Nick laughed uncontrollably as he clutched his stomach, finding it hard to breathe as his partner rolled face-first onto the ground, looking rather defeated. Judy stood up and glared at him with an expression that could melt the fur off of his face. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, "Carrots-"

"NICOLAS. PIBERIUS. WILDE."

A flying, rogue, TV remote hit him in the arm before he could react. Judy hopped back onto the couch, punching him in the exact spot the remote had assaulted him seconds before. He clutched his arm as he let out another chuckle, " _Carrots_ , I was just getting you back for kicking me in the shin. I promise. What kind of hustler would I be if I let a cute little bunny beat me up without retribution?"

Her ears heated up when he used the 'c'-word. She decides to let it slip. This time.

"I guess you're right. I wouldn't want to be partners with a _softie_ fox – _especially_ one that a tiny, innocent bunny could beat up." She smirked as she sat in his lap, facing the TV once again. "We probably should be watching the movie anyways."

Eventually, as the main hosts of the movie drawled on about how they were terrible mammals – their interest in listening to the movie drained, replaced with the slowly advancing need to cuddle up and sleep. A mere ten minutes after Judy's declaration of productivity, they found themselves on their sides, cuddled together once again. Their eyelids intermittently drifted closed, only to be forced open by brief, short-lived bouts of concentration.

After five minutes of their dangerous balancing act on the edge between consciousness and sleep, Judy rubbed her eyes, leering at the TV, hoping that there would be signs of the movie ending soon. The actors were as persistent as ever, suggesting that there was _much_ more of the movie to come.

"Nick," she looked behind her, smirking at his delirious, half-awake face, "we have to find something to keep me awake. I'm already in trouble with Bogo, if I miss half of the movie it's only going to get worse."

He furrowed his eyebrows and blinked away his drowsiness. Lifting his arms in a stretch, he yawned, lying back down on his side. "I dunno Fluff," he closed his eyes, decorating his face with a half-smirk while he shifted his body into a more comfortable position, "snuggling up seems to be something that _both_ of us want right now." Briefly opening his eyes, he flicked Judy a wink and softly kissed her cheek.

Judy sighed, rolling her eyes, " _or-_ , we could play a game. How's this, first one to fall asleep has to do something embarrassing, winner's choice."

"Oooohh, first a lack of professionalism and now a gambling streak? I _like_ this new bunny friend of mine. I'm game." Nick instantly seemed to chipper up and seemed to shed away his sleepiness. He declared his bet instantly, as if he'd thought of the punishment before. "If I win, you're wearing a tiny little fox costume to work next Monday."

Judy blushed, imagining all of her coworkers seeing her walking through the precinct wearing a children's costume. However, with how badly she recently embarrassed herself, she probably couldn't damage her dignity _that_ much further.

"Fine. If _I_ win, _you're_ walking through the ZPD in a giant carrot costume. I sort of like being the only adorable one out of the two of us, but I _guess_ you can try for a morning."

Nick sat up and extended out his hand. "You in?"

Judy hopped up on her feet, slapping her hand into his, and gave two sturdy shakes.

"You're on."


End file.
